A Knight's Tale is a PG-13 medieval comedy movie released in 2001 about a peasant squire (Heath Ledger) who poses as a knight upon his master's death. This faux knight is excited about the conquest of food and glory and will stop at no ridiculous feat to be rewarded with either.
Throughout the movie, we ride along with Ledger's character as he fools the royal court into believing he is the knight who has passed away, Sir Ector. In later competitions, he adopts the name Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein from Gelderland. Ledger becomes infatuated with Jocelyn who asks him to lose a joust in her honor, which he of course does. He manages to befriend Price Edward who is posing as a common knight so that he can fight. They begin to respect each other's honor and even though Ledger is not a knight and came from a poor father who is now blind, Prince Edward knights him as Sir William. William goes on to win the world championship and Jocelyn's heart.
Here's a rundown of the lead characters from A Knight's Tale, some of their other starring roles, and where they are today.
6 Heath Ledger as William Thatcher
Heath Ledger sadly acted until the fateful time of January 2008, when he accidentally mixed painkillers and numerous sedative prescriptions resulting in his untimely death. He was in the process of filming The Dark Knight when he passed away in his onset camper.
Ledger was only 28 years old and had starred in numerous hit movies, such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Casanova (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Candy (2006), Lords of Dogtown (2005), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).
5 Mark Addy as Roland
English actor Mark Addy has starred in many television shows and films. He started his career with a television appearance on The Ritz (1987) followed by roles on A Very Peculiar Practice (1988), Heartbeat (1992), Married...With Children and many others.
His big-screen career is all over the place in terms of types of movies and roles Addy played. He was more recently King Robert Baratheon on Game of Thrones (2011), Fred Flintstone in The Fintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), The Full Monty (1997), Down to Earth (2001), Downton Abbey (2018), and many others. His most recent on-screen appearance was in the Disney+ show, The Full Monty. Addy has been married to Kelly Biggs since 1996 and they have three children.
4 Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer
Paul Bettany has been in so many movies that you've surely seen at least half of them. He can play any role and is a true chameleon when it comes to acting. Bettany has starred in big screen roles, such as Ironman 3 (2013), The Heart of Me (2002), The Reckoning (2003), Ironman 2 (2010), Captain America: Civil War (2016), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Legend (2015), The Avengers (2012), Avengers Endgame (2019), Mortdecai (2015), Ironman (2008), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Dogville (2003), WandaVision (2022), and much more. Bettany has been married to Jennifer Connelly since 2003 and they have two children.
3 Shannyn Sossamon as Jocelyn
The beautiful actress, Shannyn Sossamon has starred in many films and remains active in Hollywood today. Sossamon has starred in movies, such as 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), The Rues of Attraction (2002), One Missed Call (2008), Sinister 2 (2015), Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006), Catacombs (2007), Life is Hot in Cracktown (2009), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), The End of Love (2012), The Holiday (2006), The Undertaker's Wife (2021), Fight for Your Right Revisited (2011), and more. Sossamon has two children and tends to keep her personal life out of the media's grasp.
2 Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar
English actor, Rufus Sewell is one busy guy! He most recently starred in the hit Netflix original series Kaleidoscope (2023), The Man in the High Castle (2015-2019), Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019), and will be in an upcoming movie about Prince's withdrawal from the public eye called Scoop in 2024. He was seemingly the center of attention for his smoldering looks in Victoria (2016) which he found hilarious and flattering as a 49-year-old man.
Sewell has starred in many roles and almost took some even bigger hitters like the lead role in Interview with the Vampire. He is currently in the series The Diplomat (2023), Old (2021), The Pale Horse (2020), The Father (2020), Elvis (2022), Zen (2011),and so forth. He seems to keep a steady existence in Hollywood so, we'll surely be seeing more of him in the future. He is divorced from Amy Gardner and Yasmin Abdallah. He does not have any children.
1 James Purefoy as Prince Edward/Sir Thomas Colville
Another English actor, James Purefoy of the HBO show Rome and Fisherman's Friends is no stranger to acing movie roles, and it shows with his lengthy list of starring roles. Purefoy has been in everything from Churchill (2017) to Camelot (2011) with a long list of movies and television series to go along with it.
He has played roles in No Man's Land (2020), Lighthouse (1999), John Carter (2012), Bedrooms and Hallways (1998), Blackbeard: Terror at Sea (2006), Blessed (2004), Mansfield Park (1999), A Discovery of Witches (2019-2022), Vanity Fair (2004), and many more. He is currently married to Jessica Adams and has one child.